Yoga in Tobago

When I heard about this one week yoga retreat in Castara, Tobago, I was immediately excited and determined to go, though it was rather costly.  I was attracted to it because

1. It featured my favourite kind of yoga – Kundalini
2. The venue, Castara Resorts, looks absolutely amazing from its online photos
3. It included all meals, vegetarian of course, specially prepared by the resort’s chef
4. I haven’t been to Tobago for a while
5. Chilling out on the beach or in a hammock, feeling inner peace from yoga, was just what I needed

I have been practicing yoga, off and on, since I was 19.  In my youth, Hatha Yoga and Iyengar Yoga allowed me to display the easy suppleness of my body.  This was my ego leading me astray as by the time I was 40, I was suffering from serious back pain that forced me to give up yoga.

My favourite part of yoga was always the relaxation and meditation at the end of the session. So when I was introduced to Kundalini Yoga about four years ago, I was hooked!  I could do most of the exercise (kriyas) because they were designed to address an inner-consciousness type of need, such as forgiveness, healing, or even wealth, rather than to work a particular part of the body.  The kriyas consist of movements rather than static stretches, and the challenge is to keep them up for 3, 11 or more minutes.  You are encouraged to rest a lot between sets of kriyas to let the energy flow throughout your body.  The great thing about Kundalini Yoga is that the energy generated from your fellow practitioners can give you the same benefits even if you are unable to perform a kriya fully yourself.  You must always try your best, though.

There were eight of us who attended this yoga retreat that took place a few weeks ago – four British, one French and three Trinis, including our teacher,  multi-talented Elspeth Duncan.  All quite different personalities and backgrounds, yet we bonded well.  Everyone was committed to the 1 ½ to 2 hours of yoga, twice a day.  Each day was dedicated to one of the main eight chakras (energy centres) in the body, starting from the root chakra at the base of the spine and ending with the aura that surrounds the entire body.  Elspeth is a very knowledgeable and excellent teacher who injected our practice with fun activities and random challenges for the day.  I think everyone had some sort of emotional response at some point during the week, so it was not easy.  However, we all felt wonderful at the end of the week, and for me, it was a life-changing experience.

Castara Retreats and Elspeth plan to make this an annual event and I would definitely recommend it to everyone, no matter your physical capabilities or experience of yoga.  Word of warning – there are lots of steps to get around the resort and to the yoga studio, and the hotel is high up the road from the beach and river/waterfall.

The eco-resort is just how it looks on their website – beautifully designed to blend with the surrounding rain forest and each apartment is unique and thoughtfully constructed to enjoy the sea view, yet be very private.  There are very few walls anywhere.  It really is a magical setting.  Keisha, our chef, took great pains to present tastefully presented and delicious mostly-vegan dishes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We did cheat a bit on the included boat trip to nearby bays, by cooking and eating fish that we caught trawling along the way, and drinking a bit of rum that was hidden in the orange juice packet!

We all agreed that we’d keep up the eight chakra kriyas, every day for 40 days, after which something special should happen in our lives.  I’m more than half way through this sadhana and I’m enjoying the lovely feeling of calm and inner peace that my yoga practice/meditation gives me every morning.  Sat Nam!

For those of you interested, here is a schedule of Kundalini Yoga teachers operating in Trinidad & Tobago:

Kundalini Yoga Class Offerings in T&T

Hari Sant – POS

Wednesdays & Fridays  – 6pm – The Sanga Yoga Center,
6 Scott Street, St Clair.

Lou-Ann – POS

Saturdays  – 7am – June’s Sanctuary Day Spa,
Cor. Phillip & Longden Street, POS.

Available for private classes ~ Contact number ~ 468-1082.

Richard Puckerin/Sat Jot – Curepe

Thursdays – 7pm –  Bali Bliss Spa,
34 Mc Inroy Street, Curepe.
Please call 763-6351 for further information.

Full and New Moon class with the healing sounds of the Gong
– 2nd and the 4th Saturday of every month at 7 pm to 8:30 pm

Anand Singh – San Fernando

Tuesday thru Saturday at 5pm – Coterie Building,
Carib Street, San Fernando.
Please call 678-9189 for directions/further information.

Tek Har/Elspeth – Tobago

Fridays –  6:30pm – Kariwak Hotel.
Available for private classes ~ Contact number ~ 786-2539